So Little Time
by Jamie552
Summary: It was strange for him to think of himself as an uncle. One-shot.


**Author's Note:** This came to me quite randomly. I recently watched both movies and suddenly wanted to write a little ficlet. I've never written for this fandom before, so I'm a little nervous lol But I hope you like it!

**Disclaimer:** Yeah, right, don't make me laugh.

* * *

The sound was nearly deafening.

An enormous wall of noise that created such a painful pressure in his ears, he was sure his head was going to explode.

It'd been on-going for what felt like weeks—there was no escape, no hiding place that could provide silence or blissful relief. The three men were a prisoner to it…and they were constantly being tortured by it.

It was indecent.

It was inhumane.

It was demoralizing.

It was Sue.

"REED! She's vacuuming again!"

The youngest Fantastic couldn't help but groan, his head falling against the back of the couch with a light thud.

_She's your sister…you love her…she needs you to be sensitive._

Truth was, his sensitivity had been burned up days before when his darling older sister had screamed at him to take a shower because he apparently _reeked_ of ash and soot. _"It's turning my stomach,_" She'd said, with an annoying little wrinkle in her nose. "_Don't you ever shower?"_

No.

Johnny Storm—the Human Torch, member of the Fantastic Four and charmer of the entire female populace—didn't bathe.

Ever.

All his sarcasm had earned him was a nasty glare and a smack upside the head.

There was a gentle sigh as Reed Richards strolled into the room, his white lab coat swishing quietly behind him. Johnny looked over at him and couldn't keep the scowl from his face. "She's gone mental, you know that, right?"

Reed sighed again, plonking down into the leather chair on the other side of the coffee table. "We need to try and be understanding."

"I'm too scared to be understanding. Actually, I've left the realm of _understanding_ and now I just wanna sedate her."

The loud and jarring sound of the recently purchased industrial vacuum cleaner stalled for almost a second and a half before starting up again, the change in pitch indicating a switch to some new and completely pointless setting.

_Maybe she's finished the carpet and started on the hardwood._

The two men locked eyes for an instant before Johnny let his head fall back against the couch. Reed simply slumped his shoulders.

"Sue's in her third trimester; an uncontrollable need to _nest_ is quite normal."

The younger man's brow furrowed. "Nest?"

"It's common for women in the last stages of pregnancy to want to clean, or prepare, for the arrival of their baby. Nearly all females in the animal kingdom experience some sort of nesting period."

"Ok, so now that you're officially _gettin' your geek on_—" Johnny lifted his head and sighed. "How long is this…animal kingdom, instinct, nesting period…thing…supposed to last?"

"Well, it varies from woman to woman. Most typically it lasts until the birth."

"So we could be lookin' at another _two months_ of this?"

There was a strained silence and Reed started fidgeting in his seat.

After a moment, Johnny couldn't contain himself.

"Ok, well…I still say we should sedate her."

The very second his boots touched the cement of the balcony, he flamed off, the orange light fading away quickly and being replaced with black.

Through the glass wall he could see that the lights inside the apartment were dimmed and he knew from experience that the minimal lighting was for his benefit—it was a habit of his sister's to leave a light on for him when he stayed out past everyone else's bedtime.

It was a habit bred entirely out of hilarity. Only a day after he, Sue and Ben had moved in to the Baxter, Johnny had come home incredibly late (or early, depending on one's point of view) and not being used to the apartment's layout had crashed into every piece of furniture Reed owned. The memory of the sleepy-eyed scientist coming barreling down the hallway with a rolling pin clutched tightly in his hands still made the younger Storm snicker.

"Have a good night?"

The unexpected voice made Johnny jump and he released a breath, laying a hand dramatically over his heart. "Way to give a heart attack, Sue."

Now that he knew she was there, he could make her out perfectly in the darkness. She was sitting alone in one of the reclining chairs; her legs crossed casually at the ankle, her fluffy robe pulled tightly around her bulging belly. Johnny took a few steps towards her, setting himself leisurely down at the very end of the chair.

"What are you doing out here anyway? You gotta be cold."

"Can't sleep."

"Reed know you're out here?"

Sue shrugged, a very gentle sigh escaping her. "I've just been thinking, you know?"

He adjusted himself slightly and turned to look at her over his shoulder. Despite the fact that he usually ran at nearly two-hundred and fifty degrees, he could feel the chill of the air through the tight material of his uniform.

He wanted to shiver _for_ her.

"Thinkin' about what?"

A siren wailed somewhere in the distance, car horns, people shouting…the never-ending sounds of New York coming to life after midnight.

"Do you think I'll be a good mother?"

Johnny could hear the quiet undertone in his sister's voice—the silent request for honesty, sensitivity and understanding. She was asking him the question and wanted him to be her brother. Nothing more and nothing less.

And because it was Susie, he would deliver.

"Yeah, you know I do."

Her eyes flicked to him in the dark and there was a heavy silence. Johnny balled his hands into tight fists, trying like hell not to start fidgeting…like he always did when his sister looked at him like that.

He heard her take a deep breath.

"I just keep thinkin' about mom. What is was like in Glenville. Aunt Jewel."

Johnny couldn't help it. He started fidgeting.

"I keep asking myself if I'm crazy. Bringing a little baby into all this, trying to be normal."

"Susie. Hey." He reached a hand over, rubbing her leg through the terrycloth of her robe. "You're not crazy just because you want normal."

"I'm not?"

"No, you're not. Reed wants normal. Ben, he wants normal, too."

"What about you?"

_Yeah. Walked right into that one._

Running a gloved hand through his short hair, Johnny shrugged one shoulder. "Normal's…not really my thing anymore." He locked eyes with her. "But if _you_ want normal? I can try and make sure you get it."

In a hushed voice, she said, "Is there such a thing as _normal_ for us, Johnny? Really?"

"I think there is. We just…have to build it for ourselves, that's all."

Johnny wasn't at all surprised to hear the light sniffle that Sue let out at his words.

It didn't matter how old they got or what was happening around them (or between them), he could never handle her tears. She was his sister, his best friend…she was pregnant, emotional, and downright _scary_ at times...but he'd give anything to keep a smile on her face.

He'd give anything to never have to see her cry again.

"Susie, you and Reed are gonna be ok."

"How do you know that?"

"I just do." He swallowed hard. "You and Reed…you're meant for each other, y'know? And when two people are meant for each other, everything else just kinda…falls into place."

There was a watery chuckle. "When did my baby brother start being so sensitive?"

"I'm tryin' to be serious here."

"I know you are." Sue raised a small hand and held it out towards him. Johnny didn't hesitate in reaching out as well, intertwining their fingers gently. "Thank you."

Johnny smiled a tiny smile. "Look at it this way; you raised me, and I turned out pretty good."

"Yeah—" She smiled the same smile. "Affectionately obnoxious."

"Yeah. That's me."

"No, it's not." She squeezed his fingers. "Not really."

Very gently, he returned the squeeze. "Just don't tell anybody."

It was strange for him to think of himself as an uncle.

A person of authority…an _elder_…to someone younger than himself.

He was so used to being the youngest, the smallest, the baby, the pain in the ass. The idea of him being a role model for a child was frightening.

When he sat down and thought about it, Johnny could easily admit to himself that when it came to responsibility…honest-to-goodness responsibility…he didn't know the first thing about passing that on to someone else. He wasn't even sure he understood what it truly _was_ half the time. If he couldn't follow the straight and narrow himself, how was he _ever_ going to teach a child to do it?

That kind of thing came swiftly and easily to his sister. Sue was a miracle worker when it came to children, hell, he was living proof of that. As a teenager, Johnny had had it in him to go the opposite way—he could've easily ended up someone different than he was at that moment, since the accident in space and all the craziness of adjusting to his new life. His time at NASA and becoming a pilot had been his way of finding himself…but it wasn't until he'd become the Torch that he'd really and truly discovered who he was and what he was meant to do.

He'd become the Torch and he'd found his family. He'd found his place, his niche.

He still hadn't gotten over himself—the status, the attention, the women…the countless, _countless_ women that worshipped the very ground he walked on—but in the grand scheme of things, he'd come to know and appreciate what was most important.

The Baxter Building and the three other people who lived on the top floor with him.

They kept him balanced…they slowed him down. And deep down inside, he knew he needed their influence.

Even if his head wasn't _always _screwed on straight, he had his small and strange little family to set things right.

The newest little Fantastic was due within only a couple of months time and there was plenty to do in order to prepare for the grand unveiling. The nursery needed to be painted…they needed diapers, formula, bottles, and soothers...the crib needed to be put together (but that was on hold because even Reed was having a hard time reading the instructions).

So much to do and so little time. That had become their motto.

Johnny, for his part, would spend those two months doing what he could to help. Even though he'd never say it out loud, he wanted as little pressure as possible on his stressed out and emotional sister—he wanted to keep her from spontaneously combusting, after all. But he'd also take that time to do some serious soul searching.

_Soul searching._

It was a phrase that Johnny Storm hated with a passion.

But he was on a very strict biological schedule.

He had two months to figure out _exactly how_ to be the very best uncle he could be for the little niece or nephew that he'd eventually have. And if soul searching was what he needed to do…for Sue, for Reed, and for the baby…he'd be happy to do it.

_END_


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